Communication Breakdown
by The Guitar Person
Summary: The Devil Hunter encounters the Gods of Death. The final fate of the Legendary Dark Knight is made known. And the Son of Sparda's destiny is revealed, as the forces of darkness and light prepare for war. Rated for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1: Call Me

**A/N: Yeah, so just started getting into Bleach recently (watched the canon-episodes through the course of one week) and this came out of that. I don't own any of the characters but the plot is mine.

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Lady fought the drowsiness still lingering in her mind as she heard the soft hum of her cell phone vibrating, signifying an incoming call. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she quickly grabbed the device from the desk and glanced at the screen.

_Caller: Dante_

Heaving a sigh of relief, she quickly pressed the button to receive the call and placed the device beside her cheek.

"Dante, the hell are you?", she snapped at the phone, hopefully cutting him off at the verge of any_ 'aww, you do care about me's'_ he had at the tip of his tongue.

She heard a snort at the other line. "Hey Lady, nice to hear from you too. I'm fine by the way."

The huntress rolled her eyes but felt the action lost since he wasn't there to see it. "Yeah, I figured you were. You've been gone for three weeks!"

There was a silence then a low whistle from Dante's end. "Damn, lost track of time."

Lady rubbed the bridge of her nose as she got up from her seat behind Dante's desk. After the idiot had gone AWOL for three weeks, she had become, more or less, the 'hunter-on-call' for Devil May Cry while he was gone. And now that she definitely knew the moron was in fact _not_ dead, she wanted to kill him more than ever. He had received a rather urgent distress call from an old friend in Japan and had gone to take care of business overseas. He had called back about two days later and reported the job done. After that, no phone calls, no letters, _nothing_ for three weeks.

"Where the _fuck_ are you?! Get your ass back here now! Every single one of your debt collectors have been going after _me_!"

Dante laughed at the other end of the line. "Heh, how's it feel ya little _blood sucker_?"

"Fuck you," seethed Lady. "Hope you rot wherever the hell you are."

"No, wait don't hang up!" came the urgent reply. "I'm...well, I guess I'm in jail."

The white-clad woman, raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip. "Jail? Why don't you just break out like last time?"

"Yeah, about that – it's not exactly _jail_-jail. You know the job I just took right?"

"The demon infestation in Japan? Yeah, what about it? You called back here and said you took care of it three weeks ago, before you went missing!"

"Wasn't a demon infestation."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they were _kinda_ like demons but you know...not. Anyways, I ran into the guys who're supposed to actually take care of the 'not-demons' and we got into a little misunderstanding.

Lady wrinkled her nose in slight confusion. "You ran into other hunters? I thought they were already clear about whose side you're on."

She heard a deep sigh from Dante's end. "Not hunters, Lady. Reapers. Soul Reapers."

It took but a moment for Lady to digest this information.

"Soul Reapers? You mean _Shinigami_?"

"Well, look at you all multi-lingual!" came the impressed chuckle from Dante. "Yeah, I ran into a couple of them and they took me here to their home realm."

Things began to click in Lady's brain. "I take it you didn't come quietly."

"Okay, one, you _know_ I've got a problem with suits – that includes the foreign _versions_ of suits," replied Dante. "Two, you _know_ I've got a problem with anything non-human, which now includes Soul Reapers apparently, in that very short list."

Lady snorted in derision. "You're forgetting _number three_ – the one where you shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more and when everything's dead, try to ask questions. I'm betting that's what's got your ass in a bind with these guys right now."

"They were carrying swords and I thought it necessary to exercise my right to defend myself and kick some ass."

"Great. So, whaddya need me for?" snapped Lady irritably.

"I need you to get the hell over here and vouch for me _and_ bail me out."

"Okay, just point me to the nearest portal available and I'll be there in a second. Let's get this over with."

There was a guilty pause. "Yeah....it's in Japan."

"Excuse me?" asked Lady, feeling her temper spiking. "You want me to fly a hundred goddamn miles to Japan to bail your sorry ass out?"

"Come on!" replied Dante. "You can have all the pay from the hunts you took while I was gone."

"Fuck you, I could've gotten all those jobs by myself."

"Think about it this way; the longer I stay here, the longer I can't pay my debt to you."

"You've already paid most of you debt to me," said Lady, unsure why she was saying this. Any other day, she would've been content to let him stew in the knowledge that he still owed her.

So what the hell was she waiting to hear from him?

"Look, they don't trust me here," said Dante, sounding serious. "They said that I don't '_feel_' right. I'm giving them bad vibes or something and I need someone to come here and tell them I'm a good guy."

Nodding slightly, Lady let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. You want me to take Trish?"

"I wouldn't advise it," Dante replied, sounding wistful. "Last time we were on a plane, she threw up like five times and squeezed the living hell outta my hand."

"Okay. So I just go to Japan? Then what?"

"Here's what you do – when you get there, you ask around, go to a place named Karakura. When you get _there_, ask to go to a candy shop owned by a guy named Urahara. He's the guy who called me for the job."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Yeah, bring me a couple of Devil Arms."

Lady's eyes widened. "You sure?"

"Yeah, it's what you're going to use for my bail."

"Alright. By the way, how're you calling me?"

She heard a deep chuckle. "I asked for a phone call. I get one per week for as long as I'm stuck here."

"Okay then, hang in there. See you in a day?" said Lady, preparing to hang up.

"Wait, I think the old man wants to speak with you," said Dante, before sounds of rustling cloth was heard. Lady, meanwhile, was now thoroughly confused. As far as she knew, Dante was comparable to a natural disaster in terms of pure destructive power, and they were having an _old man_ guard him?

"Hello?" came a wizened voice, replacing Dante's own familiar baritone. "To whom am I speaking to please?"

"Er...yes, hello?" replied Lady, feeling a tad nervous. Despite the apparent age of the owner of the new voice, there was a certain weight and power around it – impressive, considering he had uttered only a few words, from _another realm_, miles away from where she was.

"May I know your name please?" came the voice again.

"Um...Lady."

"Yes, Miss Lady, the one your friend here speaks of?" replied the 'old man', never questioning the alias she had given herself.

"The same."

"My name is Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and I am the captain-general of the Shinigami corps. I wanted to talk to you personally to make sure that you understand the situation your friend is in."

Lady felt like a mother being chastised by the principal for the behaviour of her son.

"We found him in the epicentre of a massive infestation of Hollows – similar to your 'demons' I'd imagine – and found that, interestingly, he seemed to be acting as _bait_ for the creatures."

The female hunter swallowed nervously. Dante's demonic ancestry was always the hardest to explain, especially since most people started drawing their own unpleasant conclusions based on the word 'demon'.

"That would not have been so bad because we encourage the destruction of Hollows, but when two of our captains decided to question him about it, he assaulted them for no apparent reason," came the rather stern explanation from the old Shinigami. "He's gravely injured two of our best captains, their respective lieutenants, as well as one substitute Soul Reaper and his friends."

Lady wanted to groan and apologize for her friend's bone-headed actions but the old man apparently wasn't done yet.

"We managed to take him to the Soul Society to at least make light of his purpose for doing this but, once _again_, he escaped custody and started a ruckus, causing massive amounts of property damage, most of which will take us quite some time to rebuild."

Lady's shoulders slumped in defeat. "On behalf of the whole human race, I am _so_ sorry about him."

She could've sworn she heard a sigh from the Yamamoto at the other end. "It's quite alright, at least for the time being. We are keeping him in custody as of now, but rest assured that no harm will come to him. In some ways, he's done us a favour – he's managed to kill all of the Hollows populating that area, including several Menos Grande."

"Menos Grande?" asked Lady.

"Maybe some other time, my dear," said Yamamoto amicably. "This...cell_phone you say?_ It's about to run out of power and needs...._recharging_ I believe. We will explain things further when you get here."

"Alright then. Er...nice talking to you."

"Quite. I shall have Dante here say his goodbyes to you."

More rustling of cloth was heard.

"Lady, you there?"

"Yeah."

"See you in a bit?"

"Yeah. Oh and Dante?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna beat your ass when I get there. You know, just FYI."

"Heh, see you soon Lady."

_Click._

**END

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_**A/N: Yeah, I know I should be working on "Hermetica" but I've got severe writer's block for that story. Hopefully this clears things up! Also, the title of the story is derived from the song of the same name by Led Zeppelin from their debut album released in Janurary 1969.  
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	2. Chapter 2: Leaving On A Jet Plane

**A/N: Second chapter up. I own nothing but the plot.

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Lady hated flying. It wasn't the fear of flying itself that actually bothered her but the entire cumbersome process itself. Getting the fake ID and passport, then saving up the cash to get a seat where she _wasn't_ being flanked by a noisy kid and an obese guy with his own damn climate. Sneaking weapons was a whole other process – she couldn't bring her conventional firearms or even knives, so the shitty little plastic or fibreglass ones would have to do.

Right now, she was experiencing the other "perks" of flying – a crappy movie portraying vampires as sparkly pretty boys and not the borderline demented blood junkies they were.

"Chicken or beef?" asked the stewardess who had come over with her cart filled with meal trays and of course, _booze_.

Lady shrugged; it didn't really matter anyway, as long as the booze was there.

A few hours later, the huntress was finding herself relaxed all things considering. The alcohol had done wonders and the movie was winding down, meaning she didn't have to deal with the squealing of several teenage girls on board. They still had about ten hours to go and with that thought, she asked for a pillow and blanket to get some sleep.

She was about to settle into a slumber when she felt her phone vibrating once again against her hip pocket. Quickly pulling the device out, she glared disbelievingly into the screen – she had turned the device _off _as per the instructions of the airplane staff, but it seemed to have turned itself on.

_Caller: Dante_.

Cursing softly, she pressed the button to receive the call once again.

"Lady, where are you right now?" came the familiar baritone from the earpiece.

"I'm on a goddamn plane right now," she hissed. "The stewardess is going to kill me if she sees me taking this call – not to mention I'm probably fucking up their radar system."

Dante let out another laugh. "Don't worry about it, we're not exactly using regular airwaves here."

Lady rubbed the bridge of her nose. "That's _one_ way to put it. Why are you calling anyway?"

"I don't know – just feeling kinda lonely I guess."

"That's unusual for you, Mr-Life-Of-The-Party."

"Can't really talk too much here – if they hear about the old family tree, I'm getting the feeling they won't be jumping for joy."

The female hunter's stomach suddenly felt a bit warm; the tell-tale sign that she was beginning to feel _sorry_ for him. It wasn't like it was unfamiliar – based on the fragments she would hear from Dante himself or some of his colleagues, he didn't exactly live a charmed childhood. She had been _there_ during the catastrophe involving Vergil and her father, and the war wounds had been dulled but still hadn't disappeared completely.

"Hey, Lady, you there?"

"Yeah. Listen, I brought your dog-nunchucks and that lightning sword. Think that should be enough for your bail?"

"Wait a sec," said Dante. Lady heard a muffled "Two different Devil Arms. Think that'll do?"

Straining her ears, she heard a muffled response to Dante's question, undoubtedly male. That's right; if he was getting a phone call, there must have been somebody standing guard.

"Lady, you mind talking to this asshole here?" asked the half-devil with a laugh. "Guy won't shut up about the human world."

Lady swallowed. She _really _didn't want to hear anymore about what kind of damage Dante did to beings that took _souls_ for a living. "Er..."

"Yo, is this 'Lady'?" asked the voice replacing Dante's. Oddly, she could detect a few similar traits in the speech pattern – it was laidback and carefree, something she got used to hearing in the devil hunter's voice.

"Yes, who's this?" she sighed, resigned to the fact that she was going to have another impromptu chat session with Shinigami.

"My name's Shunsui Kyōraku and I suppose you could say I'm an employee over here," the man continued, amusement in his voice. Lady found it oddly calming to know that even Death Gods had something resembling a sense of humour.

"Nice talking to you, Kyōraku-_san_" responded Lady, digging up the minimum amount of Japanese she had learned in her youth. "Hope Dante didn't hurt any of you too badly."

Shunsui let out a low whistle. "Oh, you speak Japanese! Guess that makes the auto-translate feature on the phone kinda redundant, eh?"

"No, I'm not really that good at it."

The man's voice took on a light, friendlier note. "Well, maybe I can teach you a bit when you get here. And please, call me – ow! Nanao-chan, please don't be jealous! I'm just offering some hospitality to our – "

A scuffle ensued on the other line as Lady heard a distinctly female voice interrupt the conversation, sounding very cross about something.

"Lady, you mind if I put you on speaker over here?" asked Dante, chuckling at whatever was going on.

She wanted to throw her hands up in defeat but that would just result in the stewardess bringing another shot of whiskey and she _really_ didn't need the hangover.

A click signified the phone at the Shinigami's end being turned to speaker mode.

"Sorry for the disturbance, Lady-_san,_" said Shunsui in an apologetic voice. "I wanted to ask you about the 'demons' you said you hunt in the human world."

A lengthy conversation ensued with Lady explaining all she knew about demons – the different types, their behaviours, attacks patterns and weaknesses. She carefully left out the parts about Sparda and his sons, at least not while she couldn't do anything at the moment to help Dante if the need arose.

"Excuse me? This is Lieutenant Nanao Ise speaking," said a stern sounding woman from Dante's end. "If it's alright with you, Miss Lady, may I know how long you've known Mr. Dante?"

Lady's fist clenched – the other guy, Shunsui, must have been lowering her guard down by pretending to be a hapless dork so this woman could go in for the kill.

"About ten years now," she responded, keeping her voice even. "He may be a jackass and a skirt chasing lunatic, but he's mostly harmless."

"I know how that feels..." muttered Nanao.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. As for how 'harmless' he is, I'm sure you've heard of the massive property damage your friend has caused?"

"Yeah, I have some idea..." Lady replied with a groan.

"He's injured 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, 8th Division Captain, _my_ captain, Kyōraku Shunsui..."

"He's a _captain?"_ asked Lady disbelievingly. Well, it wasn't so surprising if she thought about it; Dante liked to pull the brainless act too before he slaughtered every non-human thing in a room.

Nanao cleared her throat. "Our substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki also sustained several injuries while his friends sustained minor ones. As for the property damage, he has also destroyed three of our main squad barracks during his escape attempt – we were lucky no one was hurt or else – "

"Shhh, that's enough Nanao-chan," placated Captain Kyoraku. "Byakuya's doing fine and from what I've heard, Ichigo's itchin' for another shot at Dante here!"

"But Captain, the paperwork for this..." came the protest from Nanao.

"Why don't you take the week off? You got dusted pretty good in that fight too," offered Captain Kyoraku. "Let the old man worry about this one, alright?"

"But Sir..."

"That's an _order_!" Kyoraku sing-songed with a laugh.

Lady heard a growl.

"Yes, _sir_. Miss Lady, it was nice talking to you, but I suppose I must make my leave now."

There was a short moment of silence as she heard padded footsteps and a sliding door close, signifying the Shinigami Lieutenant's departure.

"Is she gone?" asked Dante.

"Yeah. Alright, let's continue where we left off."

Straining her ears once again, she heard a _clinking_ noise and what she was sure was the sound of a liquid being poured from a bottle and into a cup.

"Bottoms up."

"Cheers."

The female hunter felt her ears burn red with annoyance. "Are the both of you getting _drunk_ right now?"

"Yeah, this _brandy_ stuff is damn good!" replied Captain Kyoraku with a laugh. "I gotta tell you Lady-_san_, this guy's just full of suprises! First, he fights me, Byakuya and Ichigo all at the same time; then he survives my _bankai_. I've never seen anything like it."

"Bankai?"

The Shinigami snorted."Trust me, you don't want to know."

The odd mixture of annoyance and fear began to rattle Lady's spine. The 'goofball' act was definitely just an _act_ with this one – he was a _lot_ more perceptive than he let on. Again, the similarities to Dante was astounding; probably the reason why they were _bestest drinking buddies_ right now.

"Look, can I get some sleep now please?" asked Lady, rubbing an eye and stretching."I have seven hours to go and I'm betting I'm gonna wake up about twenty times every time some kid starts crying."

"Oh, sure, alright. Dante, you wanna say anything?"

"Sweet dreams, Lady. Wish you were here."

"Whatever." Lady grumbled, before instantly feeling bad for saying it. "See you soon." 


	3. Chapter 3: Strength Beyond Strength

**A/N: You know the drill. I don't own anything but the plot ;-)

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The search for one Kisuke Urahara's place wasn't exactly as easy as Dante made it sound, as Lady was just now figuring out. Karakura Town was still a fairly large place and the directions she would get were either unclear or contradictory to each other. Add that to the fact that her grasp of Japanese language was _very_ limited, and she wasn't at all surprised that she had ended up staying in a dingy motel room for her first night in Japan. Her single trolley bag held just a week's amount of clean clothing and more importantly, _ammo_. Something was decidedly _off_ about the entire town, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it yet, so even the week's worth of bullets and grenades wasn't all that comforting to her.

Lying down on the bed (with the back massager feature non-functional, _natch_), she glanced over at the two ugly orange tag bags containing the Devil Arms. She had managed to pass the weapons off as antiques at the airport, thank god, but they were still a pain to carry around.

The room wasn't all that bad; at least the toilet flushed and the bed was comfortable.

After a quick shower (very quick, especially since the water wasn't heated at all), she changed into a plain white tank-top and sweatpants. Plopping down on the bed, she had the sudden urge to check her phone. It made her feel a bit stupid, but the lack of another phone call from Dante was disconcerting and now, the thought of something bad happening to him rattled around in her head.

"He's alright," she said, shutting her eyes and feeling a tiny bit embarrassed for some reason. "It's just one phone call," she repeated, relaxing a tiny bit.

Sighing to herself, she could just imagine the Dante's face if she let slip that she had worried about him in any capacity.

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Dante was really beginning to hate the Soul Society. For one, they seemed to operate on the same fucked up justice system as the one back home. Secondly, the food served to him in his special cell had been horrible. Third was the constant supervision from the various nut jobs that seemed to crawl out of the woodwork as soon as he got there.

Admittedly, the old man and Shunsui were okay guys; at least Shunsui was, being quite sympathetic to his plight, despite being the one who actually managed to knock him out and get him to the Soul Society in the first place.

He had been expecting another escort to accompany him to the call room, where his calls back home could be monitored and recorded. He remembered seeing a creepy face wearing a grin from behind the two-way mirror in the room, its malicious eyes watching his every move.

Kinda reminded him of Gene Simmons actually, but that was impossible.

That morning, however, there were two escorts. One was a bald man with crazy, red marked eyes, who kept spewing forth waves of spiritual energy towards him. The other guy was...well, kinda _fruity_ to be frank, what with the shiny hair and eyebrow ornament _things, _but he also had considerable spiritual energy from what he could tell.

"So, where you guys taking me?" the half-devil asked nonchalantly as the two men flanked him while they walked along a white brick road. Surveying the damage to the buildings and some of the roads, Dante could _sort of_ understand why everybody here was pissed at him. "Listen, I'm sorry about destroying your shit."

"Hey, no problem man," came the surprisingly amicable answer from the bald man. "So tell me, what was it like fighting with two Shinigami captains, two lieutenants, a Vizard _and_ a Quincy?"

The devil hunter tensed; despite the friendly tone, the man's eyes held a psychotic gleam to them, his hunger to battle someone, _anyone_, becoming quite apparent. The other guy, Eyebrows, chuckled as they entered what seemed to be a housing facility, behind the large white stone walls. A large wooden door stood in front of them, an insignia of a _yarrow_ flower very prominent at the top.

"Nice digs," said Dante, as the bald man knocked on the large door. "I'll ask again, why am I here?"

"This qualifies as your recreation or 'rec-time' I believe, as the humans call it," answered Eyebrows, crossing his arms.

"Yo, open up, it's Ikkaku!" called Baldy at the gates, looking back over his shoulder at Dante with a maniacal smile. "I brought us some fresh_ meat_!"

The silver haired man smirked. "Dude, that didn't sound gay _at all_, just so you know."

"Laugh all you want," said Eyebrows as the large doors began to open. "Our captain's heard all about you and now he's wondering what all the fuss was about."

The two Shinigami and _ryoka_, as Dante could remember being referred to at times, entered the barracks. There was a large field where he saw several Shinigami sparring, some of them looking to be in very intense duels. A Japanese style house, resembling one from feudal times, stood at the center of the compound. This was where the two men were leading him to, Dante figured.

"So, your captain's got a little crush on me or something?" said Dante, even as a few men stopped their sparring and stared at him. Most of them began radiating spiritual pressure as well, looking very eager to fight him.

"Well, you're right about _crush_, but probably not how you think," said Baldy as they went inside the house. They finally came upon a sliding door which opened to reveal a large room. A sword rack was off to the far side of the room, as well as several weapons like spears and even a few shields.

What really caught Dante's attention was the man sitting at the far end of the room on what looked like a bean-bag chair; he was tall, easily as tall as Dante himself if he stood up, with eight spikes sticking out of his skull, like rays of the sun. Walking closer, Dante saw the man's face – he had menacingly sharp features, with a bloodthirsty gleam on his left eye, while the right was covered with a black eyepatch. A long scar ran down the left side of his face, a sign of battle experience. He was wearing a tattered white _haori_, similar to the other Shinigami captains, except his absolutely reeked of blood.

"Is this him?" asked the man, still sitting on his cushion. His aggressive features darkened slightly at the sight of the devil-hunter, a sign of slight disappointment.

"Yeah, he was the only one there," responded the bald one, Ikkaku. "We checked the records and everything. He's the guy."

Dante grinned sardonically. "So, what do I win?"

This time, the tall man grinned back, making his features look all the more intimidating and aggressive. Ikkaku and Eyebrows were both smiling, yet they looked slightly on edge, almost like they were expecting an inevitable catastrophe.

"So, you fought with Kyoraku, Kuchiki _and_ Ichigo, all at the same time eh?" said the man, now standing up to his full height and walking to face Dante.

Dante gave a nod, glaring back at the Shinigami's one uncovered eye. Although Dante was shorter in height only by two inches, the spikes on the man's head made it seem like he towered over the half-devil.

"Not like I had much of choice," responded Dante nonchalantly, refusing to be intimidated. "They drew their weapons, so I drew mine."

"I like that attitude," responded the spike-haired man, with a grin. "I am Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of Squad Eleven. The cueball behind you is our Third Seat, Ikkaku Madarame and the one beside him is our Fifth Seat, Yumichika Ayasegawa."

"Nice to meet you guys," replied Dante amicably, despite the tremendous spiritual energy that Kenpachi practically haemorrhaged in his direction. Grinning widely, Dante stepped closer and held out a hand.

From behind him, Ikkaku and Yumichika stared in amazement – the _ryoka_ was showing no signs of discomfort, even with his proximity to their captain's vast _reiatsu_.

"Dante," he said, gripping the Shinigami captain's hand with vice-like strength. To his bewilderment, the spike-haired man looked...well, _happy_.

"Not bad. Most people faint when I give them a taste of my _reiatsu_, and that's when I'm much further away from them."

The devil hunter agreed silently, noticing that his two escorts looked a tiny bit nauseated, almost like they were being drowned.

"We've said our names to each other," said Kenpachi, matching Dante's monstrous grip with his own. "I suppose you know what that means?"

"I'm gonna go ahead and guess...we try to _kill_ each other?" said Dante, deciding to show off by beginning to release his own demonic energy. The room began to darken and swirls of dark red energy began to fight against the vast spiritual power flowing out of Kenpachi.

Kenpachi scowled, looking mightily pissed about something. "Actually no, we can't really go all out. If we cause anymore damage to the place, the old geezer's gonna take it outta my ass."

"Agreed," replied Dante. Even though he was technically putting his life at risk again, this was a good distraction until Lady got to the Soul Society. "They took away my stuff, so unless you got a spare sword around here..."

"Ikkaku, lend him your sword," barked Kenpachi who had drawn a long, worn-out katana.

"What?" yelled the bald man indignantly, holding his weapon possessively. "This is my _zanpakutou_! I'm not gonna let some dirty _ryoka_ use it!"

Kenpachi sighed and looked threateningly at his Third Seat. "You know, Yachiru's been wanting to go to a waterpark in the human world...I'm still looking for someone to take her..."

"Fine," growled Ikkaku who had paled at the threat. He took out the sheathed katana from his white _obi _and handed it to Dante. "Don't scratch it, alright?"

"I'll try," replied Dante with a shrug.

"I'm serious! If I find single scratch on it, I'll kill you!"

"Damn, what is it with this squad and killing everything?" muttered Dante to Kenpachi.

"We're the Eleventh Squad of the Gotei 13," responded Kenpachi, pointing his sword toward Dante. "It's what we're _known_ for."

"Good to know," said Dante, drawing the borrowed sword from its scabbard. "Just to be clear, Shinigami are technically spirits, right?"

"Yes, we're far from being _human_, if that's what you're asking," said Kenpachi, knowing exactly what would set the _ryoka_ off.

Dante didn't respond and charged at Kenpachi with a horizontal slash, leaving a swath of broken floorboards behind his wake. The taller Shinigami blocked the strike with his own, using just one hand to effortlessly parry the strike, sending Dante back a good distance.

"You're good," said Dante, re-sheathing the sword. "You won't believe how many fall for that one."

Kenpachi roared with laughter and charged, leaping high and crashing his sword down with an overhead strike. The devil hunter sank into an _iaidō_stance, drawing his sword into a perfect upward slash to counter, sending a shockwave across the room as the two swords clashed.

The bloodthirsty captain smiled again as he rebounded off the strike and landed in front of Dante, who had re-sheathed his own sword once more.

"It's been a while since I've seen anyone who can stand up after that!"

"Same here."

Ikkaku watched as the white-haired prisoner charged at his captain yet again, drawing the sword – _his _sword – into a diagonal slash. It crashed against Zaraki's weapon, sending sparks flying everywhere as the two combatants locked swords.

"Using one hand?" said Dante, noticing his opponent's preferred grip. "Swordfighting's _not _the occasion to be doing that, buddy."

"Like I said, if we destroy anything, we're going to end up paying for it," replied Kenpachi who then vanished suddenly.

"The _ryoka's_ done for," said Yumichika from the sidelines, as Kenpachi re-appeared right behind Dante, striking downwards with his sword.

_CRASH!_

The Fifth seat's jaw dropped as Kenpachi's sword hit the floor at the exact spot where Dante was supposed to standing. As if weightless, the red-clad man now stood on the back of his opponent's immobilized blade and ran up on its length like a narrow bridge. He then flipped off the apex and gave a solid kick which hit Kenpachi right on the skull, sending the captain crashing through a far wall.

"How the hell..." whispered Ikkaku from beside his friend, staring as their captain made his way back on to his feet.

"Heard the bells a mile away. You're not insulting me, are you?" taunted Dante, the katana held against his waist into a _iaidō_ stance.

To the half-devil's surprise, his opponent looked positively ecstatic. "What the hell was I thinking? I don't give a _shit_ if I have to pay the entire Soul Society's paychecks! It's been a long time since I've had a fight like this and I'm not going to let some stupid rules get in the way!"

This time, Dante felt a steady rise in spiritual energy as Kenpachi began to glow in a golden light.

"I am Kenpachi Zaraki! I will tell you now that unless you come at me with the intent to kill, then you'll never be able to even _cut _me."

"Well then, since we're done playing around, how 'bout you remove that eyepatch?" said Dante, beginning to circle Kenpachi, his own dark red energy crackling around him. "When I slashed you from the right a little while ago, I saw your eyeball _move_ underneath it. You can still see with it can't you?"

The captain grinned. "Think you can handle it?"

"Positive. In fact, allow me."

_Shink!_

The eyepatch fell from Kenpachi's face as if an invisible blade struck it. From across the room, Dante was sliding his sword back into its scabbard.

As soon as the eyepatch hit the floor, the walls around the building began to crumble as two fearsome _reiatsu_, one gold and the other dark red, began to combat each other in a tornado of destruction.

"Well, there goes the budget for the Annual Drinking Party," yelled Ikkaku amidst the carnage. He himself loved battle but drinking was a fairly close second. His captain, on the other hand, loved fighting first and most everything else a _distant _second.

Kenpachi swung at Dante with another overhead strike, which he blocked with his sword. A crater formed underneath the white-haired man's feet as the impact hit him. Pushing at the blade, Dante sent off Kenpachi's weapon and struck several swift slashes. The taller Shinigami quickly dashed back to avoid the strike but found his midsection to be covered in bleeding cuts.

"Hmm, thought for sure you missed me," he said, placing a hand on his wounds before bringing up his blood stained fingers to his lips and tasting it.

"Like that trick? I'll show it again!" yelled Dante, slashing at the air several times and sending multiple arcs of energy hurtling towards his opponent. To his surprise, the spike-haired captain didn't even dodge the attack and instead took them right in his torso. Narrowing his eyes, Dante saw that his opponent wasn't damaged in the slightest.

"Didn't I tell you before? If you don't have the resolve, you won't be able to cut me!" growled the Shinigami, charging towards Dante and locking swords with him once again.

"You really shouldn't be using a technique you're not that familiar with around me," Kenpachi snarled as he pushed against the other man's blade with all the strength his one hand could muster. "Or maybe...you don't really _like_ using that technique, do you?"

From the sidelines, Ikkaku gulped nervously. His faithful _zanpakuto_ was currently being wielded by a ryoka who had no idea how to use it and it was going up against a guy who had a habit of cutting _through_ zanpakuto.

"Just not my style," replied Dante, holding his ground despite his opponent's tremendous strength. In truth, this fight was reminding him in more ways than one, about his battles with his brother.

"Don't take your mind off the fight!" yelled Kenpachi, as he gripped his sword with his second hand and pushed down. This motion sent Dante's weapon flying out of his grip and embedding itself into the ground. He quickly flipped backwards to avoid a horizontal strike that took down a nearby wall. Several members of the Eleventh division looked at the hole from the outside of the building, wondering who had gotten their battle-thirsty captain so riled up.

Despite losing his weapon, the white-haired man grinned again. Kenpachi charged towards him with another devastating two-handed slash. This sent out a golden arc of energy, cutting the entire wall in front of him in half and sending many Shinigami outside jumping for cover. The half-devil, however, managed to blur past his opponent's first horizontal strike, then dashed again past an upward slice and narrowly sped through a stabbing attack. Seeing that Kenpachi has left his back open after the forward motion of the stab, Dante spun on his heel and loosed a powerful spin kick at his opponent's back, sending the taller man skidding forward a few metres.

Kenpachi looked over his shoulder at Dante, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet, bobbing and weaving around like a boxer. The white haired _ryoka_ thumbed his nose and let out a high-pitched whoop, beckoning the bloodthirsty captain to attack with an outstretched hand.

Smirking, Kenpachi stabbed his sword into the floorboards, sending out a slight shockwave. He then walked past the weapon, and raised his fists into a fighting stance.

"The _ryoka's_ going to have a fist fight with Captain Zaraki!" someone from the outside crowed. Most of the compound for the 11th Division had been reduced to rubble and now the witnesses to the battle were beginning to increase in number. "Get everyone over here!"

"Place your bets people!" called Yumichika towards some of his squadmates who began digging around their respective money pouches. "Our Captain, The Demon of Rukongai, against the...er...the White Death!"

Several mini-explosions, similar to gunshots, were heard as Dante and Zaraki began to pummel each other with melee attacks. Kenpachi unleashed vicious combinations with his fists and elbows, hitting Dante several times on the torso and the head. The half-devil kept fighting however, countering with powerful kicks to avoid his opponent's slight reach advantage.

"Had enough?" asked Dante, still jumping around with a smile on his face.

"Are you kidding? I'm having the time of my life!" roared Kenpachi, catching a kick meant for his face with a crushing grip. "Got ya!"

As he moved in for a punch however, Dante quickly raised his other leg, delivering a graceful somersault kick towards Kenpachi's jaw with a crack. The taller Shinigami recovered much faster than he expected though, landing a knee strike at Dante's abdomen before he could properly land after the somersault. The attack caught Dante by surprise as he flew back several feet before regaining his footing.

"Muay Thai?" he asked Kenpachi while he tried to regain his breath. He had cracked a couple of ribs and now his healing factor was getting a much deserved workout.

Zaraki nodded as he re-located his jaw which was nearly torn off the muscle from Dante's unexpected somersault kick. "What about you? Jeet Kune Do?"

"Yeah, gotta love Bruce Lee."

Kenpachi grinned as he pulled his sword free from the floor before raising his head slightly upwards to indicate that Dante should do the same.

"Captain Zaraki?" called Yumichika from the sidelines, busy collecting bets from the small crowd that had gathered to watch the bout. The prisoner's almost done with his 'rec-time' which means we have to get him back to his cell soon."

"Ah, damn it," growled Kenpachi irritably. "Time sure flies when you're having fun."

Dante grinned. "You said it. I can't even remember the last time I had this good of a workout."

Kenpachi laughed twirling his battle-worn blade in nervous excitement. "You ready?"

The white haired man threw away his scabbard and took a different stance, the sword now pointed towards his opponent . "You bet."

Time seemed to stop as Kenpachi charged at Dante, wielding his sword with both hands, setting up for a devastating two-handed diagonal slash. The devil hunter seemed to float off the ground as he charged with frightening speed, becoming nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye.

There was an explosion of spiritual energy, gold and red mixing in a blizzard of destruction as the two combatants met. When the smoke began to clear, the members of the Eleventh Division saw the result of the battle.

"Damn, you got me," muttered Dante, looking at the jagged blade buried up to the hilt in his chest.

"Me too," said Zaraki with a chuckle, his own torso bleeding from what looked like a million stab wounds. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you? Was that a Flash Step you used? It looked a bit slower, though."

"Nope, that's all _me_ dude," replied Dante, coughing up a wad of blood. "You were moving pretty friggin fast too."

"Cut it out. I hate being patronized," growled Zaraki. "Yumichika, what's the time?"

"Five minutes 'til we have to check him back in," answered the Fifth Seat, stuffing what looked like coins and several bills into his sleeve. "Hopefully this'll cover the damages..." he muttered.

"Five minutes eh? How 'bout another round?" said Kenpachi, who was still grinning despite his torso being cut nearly to shreds.

"Nah, I'm good," said Dante, pulling out the blade from his chest, wincing slightly. He handed the weapon back to Zaraki who accepted it. "Besides, I'm getting kinda hungry."

"I hear the prison food here's pretty shitty," said Kenpachi, putting his eyepatch back on. "I can get these two to buy you some decent grub and a drink," he said, motioning towards an irritated looking Yumichika and a scowling Ikkaku.

"I'm not gonna buy that asshole anything!" yelled Ikkaku angrily, holding up his sword which Dante had discarded a while ago. "Look what he did to my _zanpakuto_!"

"Yeah? Get your inner tube and goggles ready then," came the sadistic reply from Kenpachi. "Oh, and wear your pink swimming trunks. Yachiru _loves_ those."

A vein throbbed over Ikkaku's temple, having been rendered helpless with the thinly veiled threat. "Alright! Come on you dick, let's get you some food and then get you back where you belong. But I want a fucking fight in return for this!"

"No, his next fight is with _me_," growled Kenpachi again, though he was smiling widely once again. He turned to Dante with a gleam in his eye. "In return for not making you eat shitty prison food, you owe me another match. And this time, it's to the _death_."

"This better be the best fucking meal I've ever had then," chuckled Dante incredulously. "Seriously, was this not a _'fight to the death'_ for you? You've got some high standards, man."

"I think we both know that this was _nowhere_ near that," said Kenpachi. "Or do you expect me to believe you beat Kuchiki, Kyoraku and Ichigo with just that?"

The devil hunter smiled conspirationally and chuckled. This guy was a lot smarter than he let on.

He held out a hand. "Fine. You and me, to the death, when the time comes."

Kenpachi gripped his hand in a crushing handshake, having recovered quite quickly from his injuries. "That's what I want to hear. Now, let's get some grub and drink!"

"Captain, we really have to check him back into his cell, or else they'll take away his recreation privileges," whispered Yumichika.

"Shit, that's not good," muttered Kenpachi, disturbed at the thought that sparring matches with this new powerful opponent would become few and far in between. "We'll run back to his holding cell. You two, get the food and booze and meet us back there. Go, go, go! Or I'll kick your ass!"

The two seated officers disappeared as Dante and Kenpachi made a dash back to the holding cell on top of the ivory tower.

As they ran, Kenpachi Zaraki felt like laughing to the heavens. Serving in Soul Society must be the cause for his recent good karma – first Ichigo, now this Dante guy. What more could he want?

* * *

"AAAAAARRRGGGHHH! Get the _fuck_ off me!" yelled Lady as she woke up in uncomfortably close proximity to a large, bespectacled man with a moustache who seemed to have made his way into her room, under her sheets and right on top of her during the night.

She quickly brought up her knee to the man's groin. To her surprise, his face remained indifferent to the crippling blow.

"Very good reaction," he said approvingly even as Lady pushed against his face with her palm. "I believe the jetlag's gone Kisuke."

"Thank you Tessai," came a jovial voice from off Lady's vision. "You can get off her now."

"Kisuke? Kisuke Urahara?" asked Lady as she got up from her bed and faced the other man who had invaded her room. He was tall and slender with an average build, but held himself with an air of confidence. He sported dark green attire, the most prominent of which was a green and white striped hat covering his straw coloured hair, while on his feet he wore wooden clogs.

"My reputation precedes me I see," he chuckled, before letting out a strangled yelp as Lady grabbed the front of his robes and shook him like a ragdoll.

"How the hell did you find me?" she yelled as Kisuke's head flopped around. "Dante said you could help bring him back?"

"Let's...be...calm...about...this!" said Kisuke, gently grabbing the huntress' wrists. This action caused her to stop throttling him and let him go. "We'll get him back. I promise."

"Good. That bastard owes me," replied Lady, feeling self-conscious for some reason. That's when she remembered that Dante hadn't called yet. Slowly and deliberately, she pulled out her cell phone from the small drawer beside her bed and opened the display.

_You have 1 text message._

She pressed on the button to open the message, wondering what it would contain.

'_Hey Lady! Sorry for not calling a while ago. They took me out of my cell for some exercise and I kinda lost the time, so I could only get this one text message. Don't worry about me though, I met some cool dudes here. By the way, if you've never had okonomiyaki, you should try it – it's awesome. Anyway, that's all for now. Check out the pictures I sent you!_

_Love - Dante'_

"Who the hell said I was worried?" muttered Lady angrily as she opened the sent picture. She raised an eyebrow at the picture depicting Dante holding a small porcelain bottle (containing _sake_, most likely) and a slice of what looked like pizza. Beside him was a wild and aggressive looking man, glaring at the camera like it was challenging him to a fight. Off to the side, a bald man was holding a saucer of liquor to his lips while the other, admittedly handsome man beside him struck a seemingly rehearsed pose, gazing nonchalantly off to the side with a pout that rivaled a professional model's.

"I see he's doing well for now," said Kisuke, looking over her shoulder as she quickly turned off the phone. "But we don't know for sure. We have to get to Soul Society as soon as possible."

"I'll ask again, how'd you find me?"

"Get dressed and pack up your things. We'll explain on the way."

**A/N: And there you all go, an extra long chapter and a fight scene for everyone who's read my story here so far! **

**Some notes:**

**The Insignia for the Eleventh Division of the Gotei 13 is the ****Yarrow****. The meaning behind this symbol is **_**Fight.**_

**Okonomiyaki**** is a Japanese savoury ****pancake**** containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word **_**okonomi,**_** meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and **_**yaki**_** meaning "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. **_**yakitori**_** and **_**yakisoba**_**). Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with ****Kansai**** or ****Hiroshima**** areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region. It's basically the Japanese equivalent of pizza.**

**Iaidō**** is a ****Japanese martial art**** associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the ****sword**** from its ****scabbard****, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard. While new students of iaidō may start learning with a wooden sword (**_**bokken**_**) depending on the teaching style of a particular instructor, many of those who study iaidō use an unsharpened sword (**_**iaitō**_**). Advanced practitioners of iaidō use a sharpened metal sword (**_**shinken**_**).**

**I've also made a few references to Dante's in-game abilities here, so see if you can spot them all :-D**


	4. Chapter 4: Vulgar Display Of Power

_**A/N: Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers! As thanks, here is an extra-long chapter once again!**_

"Er, please hold still Kuchiki-taichou," said Kotetsu Isane nervously as she uncapped a bottle of disinfecting solution, which gave off a powerful odor as soon as she did so. Her patient, sitting with his legs dangling on the side of the hospital bed, gave a quiet nod and crossed his arms over his bare chest to facilitate the exposure of the rather nasty looking wound across his back. The upper half of his white hospital robes pooled along his waist and a few stains of blood had marred the otherwise immaculate fabric as soon as Isane had taken off the gauze.

"Does it hurt?" asked the tall medic as she dabbed generous amounts of antiseptic over the still healing gash with a cotton ball held in a pair of forceps.

Even without seeing the matching glare, the monotone voice of the Kuchiki heir made her knees rattle a bit. "Does _what_ hurt?"

Before Isane could jabber out an awkward apology for insinuating that the 6th Division Captain felt discomfort in _any_ possible capacity, her own rather infamous Captain stepped in to the rescue, having come in soundlessly from the door leading to Byakuya's private suite in the 4th Division Treatment Center.

"Now, now, just tell Isane if there's any pain at all, alright Byakuya-taichou?" came the sickly sweet voice of Retsu Unohana. "It's important to know if any nerves have been damaged in the fight."

A monosyllabic murmur began to form on Byakuya's lips before realizing that this was Retsu Unohana he was now dealing with. "Yes, I will. Thank you."

"Good. How is your hand feeling?" asked Unohana.

Byakuya held up a bandaged right hand and flexed the fingers. "Better."

"Excellent. Now, Isane will be back tomorrow to change the dressings over your wound. In the meantime, you may have to sleep on your side to avoid ripping the stitches."

He nodded.

"No strenuous activities of _any_ kind, okay?"

The coal haired captain nodded once more, any plans of sneaking out for late night training fading under the threat of being restrained to his bed by Retsu Unohana's considerable prowess in Kido.

Turning to leave with her lieutenant, the braided woman fixed him another smile. "Oh and you have a visitor."

Byakuya turned to face the door which had creaked open to let the two medics out as it let his diminutive adoptive sister in. Rukia wore a worried expression which seemed to intensify the moment she laid eyes on her brother sitting on the white hospital bed.

"Hello, Nii-sama? H-how are you feeling?" she began tentatively as she made her way into the room, clutching a small basket of fruit in one hand.

"Quite fine, Rukia," he replied evenly, rising to his feet and taking the basket from his sister's hand. "The medical staff members here have proven themselves competent."

"That's good to know," she said, feeling the awkwardness seeping in. Making small talk with Byakuya Kuchiki was like drawing water from a rock; it might have been documented once, but it seemed _impossible_ now. She sat down beside him on the hospital bed, and began to peel an apple from the fruit basket.

"Your injuries seem to be healing nicely," said Byakuya again, turning his attention to Rukia's bandaged right arm. "There has been considerable improvement in your usage of your _zanpakutou_ as of late."

The small girl's eyes practically glowed at the praise, however offhanded it seemed. And she had just proven that her brother was capable of small talk after all!

"Can you remember how you got the wound?" he inquired, still looking at her bandaged arm.

Rukia swallowed; okay, he _wasn't_ making small talk. He was still obsessing over the strange fight with the white haired _ryoka_. Almost a month ago, she and Ichigo were patrolling for signs of Hollow attacks when they detected a huge infestation of what seemed to be a few thousand Menos Grande a couple of kilometres outside Karakura town. When they had arrived at the scene, they saw a man in a red coat _playing_ with the Hollows, before shooting them to dust. But that wasn't the strange part.

* * *

"_That's weird," muttered Rukia, her cellphone in front of her. She and her orange haired partner had taken to hiding behind some trees that surrounded the open field where the cellphone had led them to._

"_What's weird?" asked Ichigo, still watching as the man dusted himself off and holstered the pistols he had been using to kill Hollows. _

"_The cellphone's still showing a massive infestation in the area," she said, looking at the glowing dot on the area they were currently in. "But I can't see any more Hollows. Can you?"_

_Ichigo shook his head, his eyes never leaving the red coated man, who was standing still in the middle of the field._

"_Nope, no more of those things here!" yelled the man before turning and looking directly at their hiding spot. "You two can come out of there now!"_

_Ichigo cautiously stepped out of his hiding spot, eyeing the white haired man. He gripped the handle of Zangetsu as he slowly began walking over to the stranger._

_The orange haired boy stopped a few feet in front of the man, before drawing the massive blade on his back._

"_How the hell can you see us?" growled Ichigo, pointing the sword at the stranger's forehead. "And why were you killing Hollows?"_

"_How the hell can I NOT see you? Oh, and you two were talking loud enough to wake the dead," said the man with a shrug. "As for this, it was a favour."_

_Rukia, having made her way in front of the man as well, cast a sideways glance at Ichigo who was still giving the man a death glare._

"_What the hell ARE you?" asked Ichigo, tensing up for combat and blocking his smaller companion with his body. "Rukia, it's HIM! Look at your phone!"_

_The smaller Shinigami looked at the orange haired boy before remembering the cellphone in her hand._

_Her eyes widened with realization and a feeling of dread settled in her stomach. "He's the 'infestation'?"

* * *

_

And then, the skirmish ensued, starting with her and Ichigo, then Ishida and Chad showed up and joined in, then Orihime after that. Before long, her brother and Renji had arrived for backup. And then Captain Kyoraku showed up and then…well, she had been knocked out for the last few minutes but she could remember someone using their _bankai_ before everything going dark.

"I'm sorry, Nii-sama, I'm afraid I can't remember," she said, searching her memory desperately. In a flash, she remembered a beam of crimson light before blacking out. "I-I think….he hit me with a _cero_."

"That's highly unlikely," mused Byakuya. "When he was brought back here to Soul Society, the medical team and research staff couldn't find a Hollow-hole on him."

"But…he fought just like that Espada that Captain Kyoraku fought in the fake Karakura town…" muttered Rukia, remembering the twin pistols the man wielded, fighting in a reminiscent manner to the _primera_ Espada, Coyote Stark, as described by Shunsui Kyoraku.

Glancing sideways at her brother again, Rukia noticed how tenderly he held himself, even if untrained eyes would see nothing wrong. The wound on his back was still paining him, though he would never admit it to anyone.

Rukia gulped again. The ryoka had cut her brother, Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, one of the strongest Shinigami in recent history, _clear across the back_. It was almost unheard of, the last one to do so in a sword fight being Ichigo Kurosaki in his Hollow form. When she found out that Ichigo had possessed that much power, a small part of her felt fear that any one being could possess such strength; it was only her utter trust in the orange haired youth's character that kept her from further thinking about the matter. The white-haired prisoner, on the other hand, exhibited monstrous capabilities beyond what she had ever witnessed, even from the likes of Sousuke Aizen and the Arrancar.

"I will have to have a conversation with the Research Division later regarding speedier release of the _Gentei Reiin_ after a request is made," said Byakuya out of the blue, as if the thought had been building up for a while.

It relieved Rukia somewhat to know that her brother had only been using a fraction of his strength against the red clad stranger. It made much more sense that way….

"….but, you said you were able to use your Shikai," said Rukia with sudden realization. "The Gentei Reiin only allows Shinigami to twenty percent of their full power. Releasing a Shikai in the Human World requires at least…."

"Thirty percent, yes," said Byakuya. "That is why I was planning on discussing a _quicker_ Gentei Kaijou upon request. I may not have been able to use Senbonzakura's true form at first but I _was_ later able to activate it."

The long haired captain turned to his sister whose eyes were wide with disbelief.

"You used your Shikai?" she whispered. "T-then how…_how?_"

"How did he cut my back?" finished Byakuya, while taking another slice of apple from the plate on his sister's lap. "I'm analyzing the matter as well."

* * *

_**3 Weeks Ago…**_

Byakuya Kuchiki glared at the man in front of him, wearing a red trench coat and carrying a white handled nodachi – a type of katana made slightly longer with the purpose of cutting down horse riders. The silver haired man braced the sheathed weapon across his shoulders, resting his arms lazily on it.

"Man, you assholes just keep popping out of the wood work eh?" he said with slight irritation. "Based on my sources, I'm doing you all a goddamn favour. And _this_ is the thanks I get?"

Byakuya said nothing, his eyes scanning the battle field. Kurosaki was lying unconscious, enveloped in a glowing light, undoubtedly the abilities of the strawberry-haired female kneeling beside him. Rukia was nursing a wounded shoulder and breathing heavily, her back against a tree. The Quincy was crouched on the ground, a hand nursing his ribs and the tall boy with the arm was on one knee, blood dripping from the side of his mouth.

"This is just protocol, buddy!" came the annoyed growl from beside Byakuya. His lieutenant, Renji Abarai, had drawn his own weapon and was eyeing the strange man menacingly. "Favour? I have a hard time believing that."

"Believe whatever you guys want," replied the man with a shrug. He then turned to Ichigo and Orihime, the latter of which gulped nervously. "I was just minding my own business, when your boy here decided to pull a sword on me. You can ask him yourself when he wakes up."

"You knocked Ichigo out?" asked Renji incredulously, a small disbelieving grin on his face. "You must be tough to do something like that so easily."

"Oh, it wasn't easy," said the man, lazily turning back to face them. "Wasn't hard either, but that's relative. He pulled some neat tricks though; had a cool mask and Drive-lite."

The tattooed lieutenant looked confused. "Drive-lite?"

The man raised the sheathed sword from his shoulders and rested it on the ground like a cane, before it vanished into thin air. Before Renji could comment, he had drawn another weapon, a menacing looking broadsword, from his back and pointed it threateningly at them.

"I forgot; you guys haven't seen 'Drive-classic' yet, have you?"

Almost faster than they could blink, the man cut through the air with his sword, releasing an arc of crimson energy from the blade. It was only through years of training that both Renji and Byakuya were able to Flash Step beside the man, who was watching gleefully as the area in front of him exploded into rubble.

"No way," muttered Renji. "That was….a Getsuga Tensho!"

"Yeah, that's what the other kid said. I prefer 'Drive-lite.'"

With a roar, Renji launched towards the man, ignoring Byakuya's stern warning glare. He raised his own katana in the air before issuing the familiar command.

"Roar, Zabimaru!"

The katana transformed and its bladed links hurled towards the man with great speed, whistling in the air. The red coated stranger, however, turned slightly on his heels, avoiding the blades within an inch of his skin.

"Don't act so cocky, you bastard!" yelled Renji, swinging the handle of his zanpakutou to launch another attack. Loud crashes were heard as the blades of Zabimaru hit trees, rocks and ground surrounding them, clouds of dust and debris being kicked up in the process.

As the dust cleared, Renji felt utter annoyance as he saw that the man had barely moved from his standing position, having avoided all of his blows within an inch of contact.

"Not bad," said the man, clapping mockingly. "I've always wanted a whip-sword but I can never find any decent ones."

The man smirked then blurred and reappeared behind him.

Renji's eyes narrowed while retracting Zabimaru back to sword form – did the man just use what looked like a Flash Step?

As he was learning to master Zabimaru, Renji had found it essential that he be proficient in Flash Steps, so as to take advantage of his weapon's range and to compensate for the relative slowness of its attacks when compared to other zanpakutou.

Renji smirked a plan forming in his mind. He blurred as well and reappeared behind the stranger with a downward strike at the ready. "Nice try, but you're way outta your league!"

CLANG!

Without looking, the silver-haired man raised his sword to block Renji's attack from behind. He glanced over his shoulder at the tattooed Shinigami's stunned face and smirked.

"That's MY line, kid."

"I ain't no KID!" yelled Renji, before raising his palm inches away from the man's face. "Hadō thirty-one, Shakkahō!"

Raising his palm, the red haired lieutenant shot a ball of fire point blank into the smirking man's face. As the smoke cleared from the explosion however, he realized to his astonishment that his opponent looked completely unharmed. The man again blurred from sight and reappeared a few feet away, looking irritated. He kept rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. "Damn, that's an annoying move."

Renji smiled, raising his palm once again. "Yeah? Have some more!" He shot forth blast after blast of the red fire spell, figuring the quantity of the blasts would make up for accuracy. The man sighed heavily and began to disappear and reappear all around the field, avoiding the shots with ease. Renji watched as the man blurred from one point, before making his move – just as the stranger appeared over an area, the Shinigami lieutenant used his own Flash Step to reappear right in front of his with Zabimaru raised over his head.

"You're dead!" he yelled before swinging down. Instead of hitting his target however, the man was gone from the spot, nowhere to be seen.

"What the-?"

_Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!_

The Shinigami watched astonished as a series of footprints began appearing on the ground, as if an invisible force was running around at high speed. The footprints looked like gunshots, the impact making small craters in the soil every time a step was made. The trail of broken ground surrounded the red haired lieutenant like a cyclone of death. Renji knew this wasn't right; he had to reappear eventually, but so far, the rapid footprints were the only indication of his opponent's presence.

"_Shukuchi_," said Byakuya suddenly, having appeared beside his lieutenant. He had been observing the fight for a while to analyze the man's fighting style and had come up with an observation.

"Huh? What are you talking about, taichou?"

"That technique he's using," replied Byakuya, watching as the rapid footsteps continued to appear, as if rain from above was pelting the ground. "It's a technique different from _Shunpo_ or even _Sonido_ because it does not require the use of reiatsu. It only requires the user's own raw leg strength."

"Is that even _possible_?" "There has been only one recorded usage of the technique by a human being, some time ago in the early Meiji period."

_Click._

"I see you two know your homework," came the snarky voice of the silver-haired man, his guns pointed at the two Shinigami's backs. "Look, I'm really tired from all that clean-up and I'd appreciate it if you could just let this little thing slide."

"Renji, look after the injured," came the command from Byakuya. Renji took one look at his captain's ice-laden glare before nodding and hurriedly attending to Rukia, who was still slumped next to a tree. Drawing his sword and fearlessly facing the strange man, Byakuya levelled him with a cold stare. "_Ryoka_, by order of the Soul Society, put down your weapons and come with us. You are in direct violation of laws regarding possession of mystical weaponry and assault on Soul Society liason."

"You've gotta be shitting me," growled the man, his two pistols, one silver and the other black, still pointing towards the Kuchiki nobleman's face. "You're _arresting_ me?"

The long haired Shinigami's eyes hardened. "Yes, with all your limbs intact, _if_ you cooperate."

The man let out a small chuckle. "Looks like you're the real deal then. I can tell, you're a notch or two above the orange haired kid and the tattooed dude, at least when it comes to fighting. You gonna show me some cool tricks with that sword of yours too?"

The captain's mouth fell into a severe line. "I need not show my Shikai to trash like you."

A short bark of laughter escaped the man's throat. "Okay….kinda uncalled for, but okay, I get it. Don't wanna show all your cards all at once eh? Then, how 'bout I _make _you show me?"

Byakuya's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as the guns continued to point towards him. "If you lower your weapons now, I will do my best not to kill you."

"Ah, kind of a cocky sonuvabitch underneath that cool, emotionless thing you got going eh? Yeah, I've dealt with your type before – had a lot of training in that matter when I was just a kid."

"This is your last warning, _ryoka_."

The man paid no heed to the warning, keeping his weapons in place. "Better be careful, buddy. You keep your nose turned up like that all the time, you might not see it when someone cuts your throat."

The two figures charged, blurring and clashing swords, each rapid strike from Byakuya followed by a counter from the ryoka. After a few seconds of continuous sword fighting, both combatants flickered out of sight before reappearing a few feet facing each other.

"Not bad," said the man, a thin cut appearing on his forehead and a larger one on his chest, both of which began to bleed. "Pretty damned good actually. It's been a while since I've fought anyone as good as you."

Byakuya didn't answer as a thin cut began to form on his own cheek. "Silent type eh?" said the silver-haired ryoka, shaking his head with his hands on his waist. "You know, you remind me a lot of some-"

Before he could finish talking, the ryoka suddenly keeled over as a gush of blood sprayed forth from his back, emanating from the slash made by Byakuya who had suddenly reappeared behind him. The man fell on one knee, chuckling wryly while coughing. "Damn, didn't even see that one. See, I _knew_ you were good."

To Byakuya's surprise, the man then suddenly got up to his feet, as steadily as one who did not have his back slashed a few seconds before. As he turned to face his opponent, the Shinigami was further surprised to find that the wounds he had inflicted upon the man were nowhere to be found.

The man began to smile but then frowned at seeing Byakuya's indifferent face. "You know, I usually get more of a reaction after something like that."

"Jest all you want," said Byakuya, charging again with a swift strike which was barely blocked by the man. "When the _Gentei Kaijou_ is complete, you _will_ come with us."

The ryoka wrinkled his nose.

"The _what?_ Damn, I am running out of Japanese here."

As soon as he said this, a fearsome wave of reiatsu began to emanate from the stoic Shinigami, enough to actually send a few birds flying from their trees.

"Shinigami who visit the Human World are required to seal off the majority of their reiatsu to reduce the amount of collateral damage," said Byakuya, glowing white energy surrounding him. "What you have witnessed so far was a mere twenty percent of my power."

"Twenty percent?" said the man, holstering his pistols and looking to be in deep thought. "That's…well, that's not very much."

CLANG!

The strange combatant grinned widely as he locked swords with Byakuya, noticing the greatly increased force behind the swing. "Damn, you weren't kidding! That packed a hell of a punch!"

He got no answer as Byakuya flickered and reappeared at his side, slashing horizontally. Instead of blocking with the large broadsword, he swiftly drew one of his guns and used it to parry the strike. As Byakuya's blade bounced off the metal barrel, the ryoka fired a shot that narrowly missed the Shinigami's head.

"Don't tell me you've never faced a _Gunslinger_ before."

The Shinigami responded by performing swift, deadly strikes with his sword, sending sparks flying off the metal. The man had drawn his second gun and used both pistols to parry at each strike, pulling the trigger at opportune moments to fire at Byakuya, who would duck and weave to avoid the gunshots. It was a deadly ballet of traditional weapons against modern weapons, both fighters wielding their respective armaments with lethal proficiency.

Seeing an opportunity, Byakuya removed one of his hands from the grip of his sword, parrying the gun aimed at his head. Just as the man pulled the trigger, the Shinigami Flash Stepped immediately behind the man, his index finger pointed just inches from the red leather covering the man's back.

"Hadō seventy-three, Sōren Sōkatsui."

The twin beams of azure fire shot from the Shinigami's digit, their intention to engulf the red coated man in holy fire. Before they could hit their mark however, the ryoka leapt high into the air and positioned himself right over Byakuya. He flipped upside down and pointed both his guns towards his opponent before spinning rapidly like an upside-down human top. Looking upwards, Byakuya could see crimson energy crackling around the pistols before a rainstorm of bullets infused with red lightning showered upon him, completely decimating the area he was standing in with a rapid volley of powerful gunshots.

Landing on the ground, the man holstered his pistols as he surveyed his handiwork."You still alive in there?" he called.

As the debris cleared, a rectangular orange force field was see shining around Byakuya, who had his hand turned towards the sky. He was bleeding from the shoulder, a bullet having escaped the force field, yet looked as indifferent as ever.

"Damn, those moves are _really _annoying," said the man with a growl, drawing his broadsword once more. "So what now? Are we gonna go at this all night?"

"Hardly," came the cold reply. "I will finish this now. Scatter, _Senbonzakura_."

* * *

_The Byakuya-Dante fight will be concluded next chapter ^_^ Again, I made a few references to Dante's abilities here, including his incredible speed shown in DMC4. He's only used one style specific move here which was Rainstorm, as I had to have him use it in context. Yamato also made a brief appearance in the beginning of the fight – the nodachi Dante was carrying at the beginning of the flashback._

_For those having trouble visualizing the scene when Dante fights against Byakuya's sword with his guns, imagine the gun-kata fights from Equilibrium. Dante also does a very similar fight scene with Lady in DMC3, during the cutscene when she finds Arkham seemingly dead on the floor.  
_

_Shukuchi is a reference to Seta Soujiro from Rurouni Kenshin. I hope I did the technique justice by my descriptions here, as it is one of my favourite anime fight scenes of all time._


	5. Chapter 5: Some Kind Of Monster

_**A/N: Yep, sorry this took so long.**_

_**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the plot.

* * *

**_

"Nii-sama?"

Rukia's tentative voice broke Byakuya from his thoughts as he rose from his hospital bed, walked over to his neatly folded dark robes and began dressing himself immediately.

Turning her back to give her brother some privacy, Rukia could only stammer and blush as she heard the rustling of cloth behind her. "Nii-sama, what are you doing? You need to rest and recover from your wounds! Captain Unohana said…"

"Yes, no strenuous activities," came the curt reply from Byakuya, who had finished redressing himself in his black Shinigami uniform. He chose to forego the white haori but the signature _kenseikan_ symbolizing his status as a Kuchiki nobleman, as well as the light silk scarf were back in their respective places.

"I am going out for a walk," he said again, as Rukia turned back to look at him with concern. "I understand fresh air very much recommended for those recovering from ailments, such as myself.

"But, Nii-sama…"

"You are free to join me if you wish."

Seeing that there was no way her brother was going to back down, the shorter Shinigami gave a nod and walked beside Byakuya as they made their way out the door.

"I am sorry, Kuchiki-taichou," apologized Isane Kotetsu, who was holding a stack of medical records in her arms. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. Captain Unohana was very clear regarding your treatment regimen.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed once again, turning the taller medic's face as pale as a sheet. She silently wished to have just let him go on his way when she saw him and his sister walking along the halls of the Treatment Center.

"P-please understand, Kuchiki-taichou," she sputtered under the nobleman's glare, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "I-I have my orders and I cannot disobey them!"

From beside her brother, Rukia was beginning to feel sorry for Isane. She was much more fragile and sensitive than what her rather Amazonian stature would imply. Still, there was a sense of admiration in Rukia as she watched the female medic bravely meet her brother's steely gaze with her own, even if her lower lip was quivering the entire time.

"That…is _admirable_," said Byakuya, his voice taking on a slightly foreign tone to his sister's ears. "I believe that a Shinigami's obedience to orders is the very backbone of Soul Society."

Rukia raised a small eyebrow at the sudden shift in topic, her eyes going back and forth between her two taller companions. Her brother's tone of voice seemed very alien somehow, very different from the usual stern and authoritative manner of speech he usually had.

"Um, yes…er…" sputtered Isane, breaking her eyes from the coal-haired captain's gaze with a blush adorning her cheeks. "C-captain Unohana said…."

"Yes, she has told me, and I find her and _your_ concern for my well-being quite touching" said Byakuya, stepping closer to Isane, his gray orbs still fixed directly on her. "Please, it is a matter of _grave_ importance that I leave for a moment." His voice took on a light, pleading note at the last second, making Isane gulp several times, while still blushing furiously.

A small flash of lightning seemed to strike behind Rukia as she put the pieces together as to why her brother was acting the way he was.

_Son of a bitch. Was he…using his famed 'charms' on her?_

Of course he was. Nothing escaped the great Byakuya Kuchiki after all, as he was likely well aware of his status amongst Shinigami women as a quote-unquote "sex god". This was the primary reason why Rukia had never been keen on joining the Shinigami Women's Association. The word 'awkward' wasn't nearly enough to describe the experience of listening to a roomful of women describe her brother's attributes and the reasons they wanted to jump him, in heinously graphic detail.

And now, here he was, her brother, using his so-called 'attributes' to their full advantage. This left no doubt in Rukia's mind as to how incredibly dangerous Byakuya Kuchiki could be if he so chose.

The rustling of paper broke Rukia's train of thought as she saw the tall woman's hand shakily giving her brother what looked like a small slip of paper.

"Y-you'll have to sign a release form, Byakuya-taichou," she said meekly, blushing even deeper when the long-haired captain deftly plucked the document from her. "It's a form…um…it says that you're fit to walk around Soul Society, providing you return here for the night."

Byakuya's eyes scanned over the paper, giving a nod as he finished reading. "I see."

The moment Rukia saw her brother turn his garnet-hued eyes back at Isane, she knew that there was absolutely no chance of recovery for the medic, now turned into a quivering pile of mush.

"I will return later," he said smoothly, pocketing the small document and leaving in an imperial rustle of fabric.

As Rukia left to follow her brother, she was sure she saw the silver-haired woman they left behind slump down to the floor on her backside.

* * *

"That was cruel, Nii-sama," said Rukia, feeling unusually brave. What took place was just too weird for her not to question it to some degree.

"I did not lie nor say anything inappropriate."

"Yes, but –"

Stopping suddenly, Byakuya turned his eyes upwards into one of shingled rooftops.

"You both might as well show yourselves. I've detected your presences following us from the hospital."

A flash of red and orange hair suddenly came from beyond the horizon made by the shingles as Ichigo Kurosaki and Renji Abarai gave up their rather lackluster attempt at stealth.

"See, I told you not to breathe too loud!" snarled Ichigo as he and Renji landed in front of the two Kuchikis. "He heard your stupid warthog breathing a mile away."

Mentally filtering the expletive-filled retort that spewed from Renji's mouth, Rukia took the time to observe the two arguing males. Both had sustained rather substantial injuries from the ryoka encounter, the result of which were made evident by the several meters of bandages covering their torsos and limbs.

The feeling of dread settled once again in her stomach; these two were as durable and determined as Shinigami came, yet they were pushed to their very limits by the strange man, apparently without much effort.

"If you two are done behaving like cretins, we were just about to visit the ryoka in his cell," said Rukia, feeling satisfied when both arguing parties fell silent. "Nii-sama wanted to ask him some questions."

"Count me in," said Ichigo, putting his fist to his palm. "I've got a bone to pick with that bastard."

Renji gave a grin and a nod. "Same here."

Byakuya gave the two young men a stern look. "Very well. But conduct yourselves in a manner befitting of Shinigami, will you?"

The dark-haired Captain turned swiftly and began the trek to the ryoka's cell, as Ichigo followed sulkily.

"Hmm, grumpier than usual. What's up his ass?" he grumbled to Rukia.

Rukia didn't answer, watching as the fabric of the robes covering her brother's injured back rustled in his wake.

* * *

_3 weeks ago_

_The white haired man grinned as he watched what looked to be genuine surprise form upon his opponent's formerly stoic features._

_The Kuchiki nobleman furrowed his brow, recalling what had just happened; he had sent a wave of telekinetically controlled microblades hurtling towards the red-clad ryoka not a moment ago, when the stranger drew his guns and proceeded to shoot each and every one of the shining blades out of the air._

"_Well, looks like the real party's about to start!" yelled the man, dashing with incredible speed towards Byakuya, the large broadsword poised for a powerful stabbing attack._

_Byakuya barely managed to form a shield of petals to stop the powerful strike._

"_Wrong move!" yelled the man from the other side of the shining barrier._

_To the Shinigami captain's surprise, the petal barrier formed by Senbonzakura began to crack as his opponent's broadsword started glowing with red energy. _

_He quickly jumped back as the petal barrier exploded, revealing the silver-haired ryoka grinning in a bloodthirsty way._

"_Float like a butterfly, Sting like freight train."_

_As the fight dragged on for what seemed like hours, Byakuya was genuinely puzzled by the ryoka. His fighting style was savage and boorish, but what he lacked in finesse, he more than made up for with unnatural strength. His speed was something to behold as well, managing to keep up with undoubtedly one of the best Shunpo users in Soul Society, second only to Yoruichi Shihoin. And as far as he could observe, the stranger had yet to show any sign of fatigue during the entire duration of the fight._

"_What is your name?" Byakuya asked, the blades of Senbonzakura forming a swirling vortex of light above the field._

_The man grinned again, baring his teeth like an angered dog. "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schimdt."_

_Somehow, the Shinigami highly doubted that was his actual name. "You possess some abilities that are quite….baffling."_

"_You ain't seen nothing yet."_

_As the man attacked again, Byakuya tried to observe the man's fighting style once again. It was an eclectic mix of different sword styles, mostly suited for close to medium range attacks. The guns he carried were good for nothing more than displacing the waves of petal blades that would hurtle towards him. He used his sword quite sparingly, choosing instead to shoot whenever possible._

_This time however, Byakuya noticed one significant factor to the man's fighting style. Deciding to test out his theory, the dark-haired Shinigami raised the handle of his sword and sent an extremely powerful wave of blades crashing against his opponent._

_The man saw the attack and taking both of his hands, swung his massive sword like a baseball bat, completely obliterating the entire mass of petals hurtling towards him. Turning towards his opponent, the Shinigami clearly saw another smile forming on the man's face._

_The ryoka gave Byakuya an appraising look. "Almost got me there."_

"_Please do not mock my intelligence."_

"_Say what?"_

"_I've been observing the way you fight and I believe I've seen something quite interesting. Your style is blunt and aggressive, abnormally prodigal at best. Ninety percent of your style is based on attacking. You're either very stupid….or you still haven't shown everything you can do. Considering you're in a situation when most people would be fighting tooth and nail to live, I'm interested to know why you're still holding back."_

_The red-clad man sighed in irritation. "I'm not holding anything back, you douchebag. This is about the best I can do right now."_

_Byakuya closed his eyes and raised the handle of his sword again. "I'm afraid lies aren't something I particularly enjoy. You've left me no choice."_

"_Aw, hell."_

"_Bankai__. __Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."_

_That was usually—no, unanimously—the last thing anyone heard before they were felled by the might of thousands of blades, courtesy of Byakuya Kuchiki's power. The blades of Senbonzakura rose from the ground, pillars of death and destruction for whoever dared cross Soul Society's path. _

_Each blade flew towards the man, who began to agilely flip and duck around each blade that was sent after him._

"_Man, this sure brings back memories!" he yelled mid-flip, his middle finger raised towards his stoic opponent._

_Byakuya's eyes narrowed slightly again. For some strange reason, the man seemed to have….experience dodging psychically controlled blades. Stranger still, he seemed to be getting faster as well, almost as if he was slowing down time itself._

_No matter, the Shinigami thought to himself. He had promised to end this nearly an hour ago and he was not about to fail on this oath._

_Raising his sword handle, the blades moved faster still, enveloping the man while he was caught mid-jump. A mass of telekinetically willed steel cocooned him, the razors undoubtedly shredding him to pieces._

_BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!_

_Gunshots were heard inside the sphere made of Senbonzakura's petals. Sounds of a futile attempt at escape, in Byakuya's opinion._

_Except the shots continued. They began to get louder and faster._

_Suddenly there was an explosion, the petals of Senbonzakura dissipating in a whirl of light, as the man was revealed spinning like a tornado of death. He had drawn his sword with one hand and the other hand fired his gun rapidly, effectively making him into whirlpool of destruction._

_For the first time in a long time, Byakuya Kuchiki was surprised. _

"_What ARE you?" muttered the Shinigami, as the man in red righted himself once more, glaring at him with cold blue eyes._

"_Holy fuck, that was too close," he said, panting this time. He rested his hands on his thighs and tried to catch his breath. "Alright. You showed me a cool trick. Guess it's about time I showed you something too."_

_In a sudden burst of motion, the man charged directly at Byakuya, almost blurring out of sight as he increased his speed yet again. The Shinigami Captain responded in kind sending a barrage of blades to attack his opponent. To his surprise, the man's sword began glowing red as he held it in a backwards grip._

"_Drive! ONE! TWO!" he yelled as three arcs of crimson energy fired rapidly from his blade, causing the petals of Senbonzakura to burst and scatter in the wind. As fast as they scattered, the petal reformed into a barrier in front of Byakuya, seconds before the ryoka unleashed a speedy thrust towards his opponent._

_The stranger's sword crashed into the barrier, shockwaves emanating from the impact. _

"_Not done," he yelled at Byakuya, his arm beginning to blur and the sword seeming to multiply as he began to rapidly stab at the barrier over and over again._

_The final stab caused the shield to break, Byakuya jumping back just in time to avoid a slicing attack._

"_Lights out, ass—", the man taunted, readying for another attack, when he suddenly looked at the black sword sticking out of his chest. He looked more surprised than anything, the crimson liquid spewing forth from his sternum._

_The owner of the sword snarled behind the man, the black sclera of his eyes glinting menacingly as he twisted the blade. "Asshole."

* * *

_

"Ichigo, we're here."

The orange haired lad nodded as he and his party began to ascend, the steps all too familiar to him, as he remembered how the very same prison was used to house Rukia herself.

As they reached the hall which lead to the holding cell however, they were greeted by a ruckus of activity. Several Shinigami were attempting to placate a familiarly blood-thirsty Captain who was issuing personal death-threats with his gaze alone. His cronies, one bald and the other with perfectly shiny locks were arguing with the staff as well.

"….tell your goddamn boss that when I find him, I'm gonna cut him open with my fucking _face_!" yelled Ikkaku Madarame at another Shinigami, who looked more annoyed than afraid.

"What's the meaning of this?" said Byakuya, striding over to the commotion, his sister and the two young men in tow.

"Kuchiki," sneered the tallest presence in the room, his one uncovered eye glaring at Byakuya. "Thought you were all cut up and shit. You sure you should be here?"

"I didn't think you would be concerned, Captain Zaraki," came the smooth reply from Byakuya.

"Of course I am. It'd be a shame if you pussied out and died before I got the chance to kill you myself."

Rukia, Ichigo and Renji all nodded to each other and decided to leave both captains stewing in their hatred for each other, while the three of them asked around for what had happened.

"Hey, uh, what happened?" Renji asked a young bespectacled Shinigami, carrying a notepad.

"Lieutenant Abarai," he said with a bow. "Apparently there's some confusion surrounding the ryoka's whereabouts."

"He _escaped_?" whispered Ichigo.

"No, he's been transferred."

"To where? And under whose authority?" said Byakuya, having heard the conversation. He strode over to the young recruit and eyed him pointedly. Kenpachi was much less subtle though and gripped the poor boy's skull like a melon as he glared at him.

"Answer the man."

Surprisingly, the bespectacled boy didn't even stutter.

"He's been transferred to the Maggot's Nest. Under the orders of 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi."


End file.
